It is hard to believe that these are real LEGO - those pieces are so un-lego like. I just looked at the current Racers line on [email protected] and some of those are amazingly detailed sets with a good number of pieces (45-50ish but too many stickers!) and they look about the same size as these McDonalds things. Have pieces like this ever been made before? (I confess I am not familiar with the Racers theme.) And where does that put the whole cost of a new mold issue? To me it looks like McD is dragging LEGO down a notch or two.

You do realize that the target market for this type of toy is the three to six year olds. That being said if you were to put traditional lego pieces in it you are just begging for a lawsuit when one of these little tykes decides its a piece of candy and chokes on it. Very much like not having a warning label that coffee is hot.

banthafodder wrote:You do realize that the target market for this type of toy is the three to six year olds.

Really? Happy meals are targeted at three year olds? No wonder kids in the western world are getting fat! Give them some fruit and a Duplo brick instead!

A quick look at the LEGO site finds some sets with pieces as small as a cheese wedge targeted at the 5+ market. It has a warning saying not suitable for children under three. And TLC does take safety very seriously. So regardless of discussions about the nutritional suitability of the Happy Meal, I suspect that the real reason that the pieces are so big is that they will be cheaper, and they are intended (from the point of view of LEGO) to promote the real Racers sets to the same kids.

But I still can't get past the fact that these things look like some kind of dodgey Chinese knock off. Or Megablocks.

I cant believe people replied to this...there were general mills racer cars, but those sucked... the only good mcdonalds happy meal was the Bionicle Tohunga from 2001, using REAL lego pieces. But safety is such a concern.

At lest I'm 11, it won't look weird when I buy a big kids meal, lol. And it's mostly marketed for eleven year olds!

LL918 wrote:It is hard to believe that these are real LEGO - those pieces are so un-lego like. I just looked at the current Racers line on [email protected] and some of those are amazingly detailed sets with a good number of pieces (45-50ish but too many stickers!) and they look about the same size as these McDonalds things. Have pieces like this ever been made before? (I confess I am not familiar with the Racers theme.) And where does that put the whole cost of a new mold issue? To me it looks like McD is dragging LEGO down a notch or two.

I wondered about that, too. They seem to be Lego, but the whole Mega-Blocks look and the new mold thing is strange. It's probably not ABS, but the cheaper plastic they use for Bionicle pieces and whatnot - the cheaper plastic is apparently easier to work with, the molds don't have to be made to the same precise tolerances, and the molds don't have to last as long, so many new molds can be made (again, like Bionicle).

Metal axles, though - it's been ages since Lego's had anything like that!

If true Lego quality, though, these look interesting - the top piece of each car in particular could be incorporated into MOCs. It'll be interesting to see what people can make from these.

I got a bunch of bricks at a garage sale, and among them were bricks that appeared to be printed with McDonalds characters. Nice to know that's exactly what they are- real LEGO bricks with Grimace, Birdie, and the Hamburglar printed on them. Cool.

did you post this as an excuse so you could get the polly pocket ones at the end of the commercial.

Smirks

No...I posted it because I thought nobody else on FBTB knew it...I hoped you meant that as a joke, ha.

Solo wrote:Are these different from the cereal promos from last year?

I think they're about the same thing, probably bigger because they're in a happy meal!

GrayMattR wrote:McDonalds happy meal with actual Lego pieces were the best. One set had these cool pink 2x8 plates. And how often does the Ronald McDonald or Hamburglar piece get used?

Cool, I never saw that before!

Aharown wrote:

LL918 wrote:It is hard to believe that these are real LEGO - those pieces are so un-lego like. I just looked at the current Racers line on [email protected] and some of those are amazingly detailed sets with a good number of pieces (45-50ish but too many stickers!) and they look about the same size as these McDonalds things. Have pieces like this ever been made before? (I confess I am not familiar with the Racers theme.) And where does that put the whole cost of a new mold issue? To me it looks like McD is dragging LEGO down a notch or two.

I wondered about that, too. They seem to be Lego, but the whole Mega-Blocks look and the new mold thing is strange. It's probably not ABS, but the cheaper plastic they use for Bionicle pieces and whatnot - the cheaper plastic is apparently easier to work with, the molds don't have to be made to the same precise tolerances, and the molds don't have to last as long, so many new molds can be made (again, like Bionicle).

Metal axles, though - it's been ages since Lego's had anything like that!

If true Lego quality, though, these look interesting - the top piece of each car in particular could be incorporated into MOCs. It'll be interesting to see what people can make from these.

did you post this as an excuse so you could get the polly pocket ones at the end of the commercial.

Smirks

No...I posted it because I thought nobody else on FBTB knew it...I hoped you meant that as a joke, ha.

Solo wrote:Are these different from the cereal promos from last year?

I think they're about the same thing, probably bigger because they're in a happy meal!

GrayMattR wrote:McDonalds happy meal with actual Lego pieces were the best. One set had these cool pink 2x8 plates. And how often does the Ronald McDonald or Hamburglar piece get used?

Cool, I never saw that before!

Aharown wrote:

LL918 wrote:It is hard to believe that these are real LEGO - those pieces are so un-lego like. I just looked at the current Racers line on [email protected] and some of those are amazingly detailed sets with a good number of pieces (45-50ish but too many stickers!) and they look about the same size as these McDonalds things. Have pieces like this ever been made before? (I confess I am not familiar with the Racers theme.) And where does that put the whole cost of a new mold issue? To me it looks like McD is dragging LEGO down a notch or two.

I wondered about that, too. They seem to be Lego, but the whole Mega-Blocks look and the new mold thing is strange. It's probably not ABS, but the cheaper plastic they use for Bionicle pieces and whatnot - the cheaper plastic is apparently easier to work with, the molds don't have to be made to the same precise tolerances, and the molds don't have to last as long, so many new molds can be made (again, like Bionicle).

Metal axles, though - it's been ages since Lego's had anything like that!

If true Lego quality, though, these look interesting - the top piece of each car in particular could be incorporated into MOCs. It'll be interesting to see what people can make from these.